Saturday, 2 August 2014

Top 5: Not So Dumb Blondes on TV

Another top five again I'm afraid, still very busy! However, this one is a little of bit of an unusual one. I was thinking about an old episode of The Simpsons the other day, where Lisa finds herself being discriminated against because she is blonde. The episode had a good point, I've heard a few blonde jokes in my day, but it also made me realise that actually I've seen several blonde characters on TV who are were very intelligent. In fact, I've not really noticed any dumb blonde stereotypes, which hopefully means that certain negative stereotypes are becoming obsolete. Then again, when writing this list, two of the characters that came to mind have been on previous top five lists - which means either I have to watch more TV, or there is a small pool of characters to choose from. In the end though I did manage to think of more.Anyway, here's my list of the top five blonde characters, who definitely are not dumb. Please tell me what you think about this subject in the comments!1] Lisa Simpson - The Simpsons

The character who inspired this list is of course blonde, not that I really registered it until now thanks to her equally yellow toned skin. Lisa is academically very intelligent, a lover of literature, art and jazz. She is a member of MENSA, and gets involved in a variety of scientific pursuits such as astronomy and meteorology, as well as artistic ones such as music. Basically an all round Renaissance woman!

2] Buffy Summers - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Perhaps not an obvious choice at first, but Buffy has a great variety of skills. She has street smarts, knows alot about the supernatural, and of course, and excels in martial arts and self-defence. On top of this, she proves to be academically above average when she gets a good result on her SAT tests, which gives her a variety of college options in one episode.3] Seven of Nine - Star Trek: Voyager

A human turned Borg, Seven of Nine is basically a genius who's Borg knowledge gives her a technological edge over her Starfleet counterparts. In fact she is so smart, she is even invited to join a group of genius aliens, a sort of think tank, in one episode. As well as her scientific expertise, she is also an accomplished pianist and singer. She also helped create and run Voyager's astrometrics lab. 4] Bernadette Wolotiz - The Big Bang Theory

A microbiologist working for a big pharmaceutical company, Bernadette was originally introduced as Penny fellow waitress friend at the Cheesecake Factory. However, it soon transpired she was doing the job to pay off tuition fees, and was working towards a PhD. As well as her study of microbiology, Bernadette proves in one episode to have a good knowledge of physics, and particularly experimental physics, when she shows interest in Leonard's work. 5] Romana II - Doctor Who

A Timelord who joined the Doctor with the sole purpose of helping him find an ancient and dangerous device, Romana not only matched the Doctor in intelligence but hinted at having left the Timlord's Academy with better test scores - she left with a triple first! Blonde here in her second incarnation, she was also more relaxed but nonetheless still extremely clever. In one episode it turns out she has even built her own sonic screwdriver, with which she helps repair a spaceship, and which the Doctor seemingly tries to nick. In spin-off media Romana continues to do well beyond her travels with the Doctor, and becomes President of Gallifrey itself.